


Steven Universe: Spinel Edition

by Tangent88



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 17:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20549717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tangent88/pseuds/Tangent88
Summary: This is a "what if" story in which Spinel is a Crystal Gem from the beginning of Steven Universe. In this Alternate Universe, follow the adventures of Steven, the Crystal Gems, and a slightly different, but eerily familiar Spinel as they go about their lives in Beach City, catching corrupted Gems, and fighting against Homeworld.[Since it will follow the plot of the show closely, the storytelling might end up skipping past any events that I feel would remain largely unchanged.]





	1. Chapter 1

** _Prologue_ **

4,500 Earth years ago, after the shattering of Pink Diamond; a message was sent out to every Colony in the universe. It was a grim message, full of anger and hatred; a message telling all gem-kind that Earth was now off limits. All gems were to evacuate immediately, and never return. The Earth was to be dealt with by the diamonds.

And somewhere in the universe, on a lone garden on a meteor out in the middle of space; the message was received by a curious Spinel stood on her own watching this message. Somewhere between the words “Pink Diamond Shattered,” and “Earth is off limits,” She decided not to listen.

** _Chapter 1_ **

** _Corrupting Light_ **

“Are you Rose Quartz,” a voice rang out from a lone ship standing in the sky.

“I am,” Rose answered, “What of it!?”

“This is a bad idea!” Garnet warned, but it was too late.

The strange gem smirked as she jumped to the ground to meet them.

“Well well well,” she said, stretching out her neck to bring it inches from the Crystal Gems’ faces, “Let me get a look at the grand army.

“A fusion?” She asked, narrowly avoiding Garnet’s grasp as she whirled her head around, “_ Rose Quartz, _” She added gritting her teeth, “And whose this? Pink Diamond’s Pearl?”

The mysterious gem seemed to lose her composure a bit as her head sprang back towards her body, “O-of all the gems I would have expected… It had to be **you** didn’t it?”

Rose’s mouth was agape. It looked as though she wanted to say something, like it was just on the tip of her tongue, but instead she shut her mouth, and tightened her lips. Pearl saw this, and with a look of concern on her face she decided to say something in Rose’s stead.

“It can’t be,” Pearl uttered.

“Who?” Garnet asked, “Who is it?”

“Of course,” The gem said, glaring at Pearl “You wouldn’t tell them about me would you, ** _traitor? _ **But that’s okay… In a few moments, you won’t remember anyway.”

“You’re on an abandoned planet, love,” Garnet warned, “The Diamonds ordered an evacuation. Whatever revenge you’re after, it was foolish to come here!”

“Yes,” the gem answered in a sing-song melancholy voice, “And in a couple of hours this planet will be gone~ so sad~”

Rose raised an eyebrow.

“But when it goes,” she continued, “I’m going to make sure that you, and I, go along with it!”

Her eyes flashed red as she plucked a small device from her gemstone. She flicked a switch, and the device sprang open into some sort of energy scythe.

Rose had already drawn her sword by the time the scythe had extended, but when she laid her eyes on it there was a rush of silent panic. Garnet and Pearl each summoned their weapons, ready for a fight.

“We can take her!” Garnet said.

“No we can’t!” Rose exclaimed.

And before Garnet could even respond, Rose turned her sword around in a backhand grip, and thrust it behind her straight into Garnet’s chest.

“Oh,” Garnet said as she poofed and her gemstones fell to the ground.

“Wha-” Pearl began, as Rose swung her sword around and sliced through her.

Now, Rose stood alone with the strange gem standing before her.

“You recognize this, don’t ya?” The Gem snickered, slinging the scythe over her shoulder, “That was pretty noble of you, for a murderer… but now you’re alone! And there’s no way you’re going to ** _stop me!_ **”

And with that she sprung forward at incredible speed, bounding straight past Rose, and striking from behind. Rose barely reacted in time to parry the strike before finding herself having to parry two more.

The Gem lifted her foot and kicked Rose away; who went sliding back on her feet. Rose didn’t lose her footing, and lunged forward with a thrust, but the gem flipped gracefully over her, and immediately put Rose on the defensive once more.

Rose retreated to move the fight away from the other gems, and forced the fight into a nearby forest; hoping to use the terrain to her advantage. Rose was most comfortable surrounded by nature. She knew the forest inside and out, but she didn’t account for the erratic fighting style of the other gem.

They fought for what felt like several minutes; some of which was Rose pressing her attack, but most were just Rose barely keeping up her guard. The gem stretched, swung, and sprang around the trees; mercilessly bombarding Rose with a flurry of strikes, until finally she managed to knock Rose’s sword away.

With one final punch, the gem threw Rose against a tree. Rose struggled to get up, but she was exhausted; beaten. An enlarged foot shot through the forest and pinned Rose to the ground. Followed soon after was the Gem, scythe raised for one final blow.

“Y’know,” the gem said, “I waited. I waited for three thousand years like a good little girl! Standing there, perfectly still; completely oblivious to the war. But you had to go and take her from me. You took this planet, this colony that she wanted for so long, and when that wasn’t enough for you, you had to go and _ kill _ my **best friend!**

“You made her leave me stranded on a planet for three thousand years, and then you ** _killed her!_ ** Well guess what, _ ~Rose Quartz~ _ Now **everyone gets to die!”**

She began to swing her scythe in a final decisive blow.

“Spinel!” Rose screamed, “It’s me!”

The scythe stopped, inches from her neck. Spinel all but froze in place.

“Wh-what?” She asked.

“It’s me,” Rose answered, pushing herself onto her feet, “I’m alive… I… I’m sorry.”

“P-Pink?” Spinel asked.

“I’m so sorry,” Rose said, reaching out to Spinel.

“You,” Spinel choked up. Her voice began to crack as her whole body began to lose composure, “You left me there.”

“I’m,” Rose said, grasping onto the scythe, “So sorry…”

And with that, Rose ripped the scythe from Spinel’s hands, and sliced her in two without a moment’s hesitation. Now lay a heart shaped gemstone on the forest floor, and Rose reached out to bubble it, but then in that moment she stopped. She plucked up the gemstone off of the ground, tucked it between her breasts, and returned to her friends.

When she reached the valley where Spinel had landed, Ruby and Sapphire had already reformed.

Ruby marched up to her angrily; “Do you mind telling us-”

“Ruby!” Sapphire rang out.

“Oh,” Ruby said, “Right!”

Ruby took Sapphire’s hand, and they reformed into Garnet.

“Do you mind telling _ me _,” Garnet said, “What that was about?”

Pearl reformed next to them, with a sad and dejected demeanor. Rose pulled out the scythe and activated it.

“This is a rejuvenator,” Rose told them, “One hit from this, and you reset; back to how they made us. They liked to use it on other Roses.”

Then, Rose pulled the heart shaped gemstone out from her breasts and showed it to Garnet and Pearl.

“I…” She began, but suddenly they heard something in the distance. From the sky, a haunting melody began to resonate over the entire Earth; followed by a flash of light. Rose barely had enough time to throw up her shield…


	2. Best Friend Spinel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too happy with how this turned out. Season 1 has proved to be a bit of a challenge. I wouldn't call it filler, but there are a lot of brief notes that don't make for an exciting or entirely different chapter than the episodes in the show. Next will be "Steven's Lion" and after that I think I'm going to skip ahead to "Mirror Gem." I want to try to get one chapter out every Friday. I hope you guys like it.

** _Chapter 2_ **

** _Best Friend Spinel_ **

“Gooooooood morning Steven!!” a bubbly and childish voice rang out.

Steven werily opened his eyes to see a cheerful pink gem grinning at him from the side of his bed. She had messy dark pink buns for hair that looked like they were supposed to be in the shape of hearts, with star barrettes in her hair. Above and below black marks like mascara that formed thin clown-like markings, elongated diamonds, with two dots, like teardrops, at the bottom; parallel to her nose.

She wore a pair of red suspenders which stretched over her white shirt, and fastened themselves to a pair of poofy pink shorts. Her shoulders were round bright pink poofs with stars on them, and her shoes were probably 10 sizes too big. Finally, her gem; an upside-down heart-shaped gem in the middle of her chest.

“Good morning Spinel,” Steven answered, “You’re awfully excited this morning… except you’re always excited…”

“Well, today I’m excited for a reason!” Spinel answered, “Come on! I’ve been waiting on you. You’re the only one that sleeps- well you and Amethyst.”

“Heeey,” Amethyst joked, “I’m a growing Gem.”

Spinel giggled, “Amethyst we don’t grow.”

“Well I can wish,” Amethyst laughed.

“Well,” Spinel said, “Steven’s up- you’re up right?- let’s go get those dullsville dweebs out of their rooms.” She winked at Amethyst, and the two ran off.

It had been somewhere near 3000 years since Spinel had shown up on Earth. Now, she was a Crystal gem, and Steven’s ‘best friend.’ In truth she adored Steven, possibly even more than she had adored Rose.

Ever since Steven started living with the gems, more honestly since he was born, Spinel had dedicated herself to watch after him. The other Gems would go on Gem missions, and protect the world, but Spinel was protecting a different world; Rose’s world… Steven’s World.

She may not have been a master of combat, but she was a master of video games, and tag, and keeping Steven alive. It was almost like keeping Steven company was what she was made for.

As Steven had grown, Spinel had to learn about personal space. She and Steven had several long talks about how she doesn’t have to follow him everywhere anymore, and it doesn’t mean he’s abandoning her; neither her nor Steven could survive with just each other. Other friends and family were important too.

This was a talk Rose had with her too. It was something she was getting better at. This last year, though hectic in the end, helped a lot.

Steven learned to summon his weapon, and Spinel learned to have faith in him. 

They dug through Greg’s storage to find a laser light cannon and destroy a redeye. Spinel got really distracted in that storage unit, and Steven mentioned something about ADHD, but she got to be a rope and attach herself to a van… She did not like being a rope.

She and Steven went on their first mission together, and it was a failure, but Steven seemed to make huge strides.

There was also that time she had to stop him from creating a horrible fry monster… that was a traumatic image.

And to top it all off, Steven made a new friend; Connie. Perhaps 3000 years ago Spinel would have been jealous, but after all this time to adjust to the idea? Spinel had a positive feeling about Connie. Connie was a girl. Steven was a boy. Spinel had learned that the romantic pairing of humans was far more complicated than that, but it was a start. Steven seemed to act flustered whenever Connie was around. Connie seemed… like a person… 

Even if Spinel was reading too much into this, she was a friend, and potentially a life long friend. Spinel was happy to see her around.

Today, Steven and the Gems were going to Fun Land to ride the new teacup ride.

That did not end well… But of course, you already know that story.


	3. Steven's Lion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double release this week, because Chapter 2 felt kinda short

**Chapter 3**

**Steven’s Lion**

“Water,” Steven moaned as he crawled up a small sand dune, “So thirsty… Need water…”

“It’ll be safer if you stand up,” Pearl told him; her and the rest of the crystal gems walking around him.

“You don’t understand,” Steven said dramatically, “This is how you’re supposed to act in the desert!”

Spinel rolled her eyes, and lifted Steven off of the ground and onto her shoulder. The five looked ahead at a large pyramid only a little further off. Mystical sand-made structures rose and fell around it for no discernable reason.

“Is this it?” Steven asked.

“Yes Steven,” Garnet said, “The power in this treasure has turned aimless.”

“It’s building columns with no roofs,” Pearl added, “Stairs that go nowhere.”

“It looks fun!” Spinel said.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Amethyst asked, “Let’s roll on over!”

Amethyst jumped past Spinel and Pearl, and rolled down the miniature sand dune.

“That was a bit unnecessary,” Pearl told her.

Amethyst simply mimicked her.

“Excuse me!?” Pearl asked, but to her left Spinel was giggling, “Don’t encourage her!”

“S-sorry!” Spinel snickered.

There was a loud roar somewhere far off in the desert, which put Steven and Spinel on alert. The two looked to the others to ask what it was, but Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl didn’t seem to notice.

“Let’s just go already!” Amethyst shouted.

“It would be best if Steven stayed here, Spinel,” Garnet said, “He’s not as durable as us.”

“But what if something tries to eat me!?” Steven asked.

"Don't worry," Assured Garnet, "There's nothing out here that can hurt you."

“Maybe,” Spinel protested, pointing at the sun “But there’s something up there! Humans don’t do well in the heat, Garnet… and I’m pretty sure we heard something out there.”

“Spinel,” Garnet assured her, “There’s nothing out here for miles… except for the Desert Glass…”

Spinel huffed, “He could still overheat while we’re gone, ya know!”

“If it makes you feel better,” Garnet said, “You can wait here and watch over Steven. We should be able to handle this.”

Spinel smiled, and made a silly fake salute. “You can count on me!” She said.

Garnet ran off to catch up with Pearl and Amethyst, who had already gone ahead. Spinel carried Steven over to a pillar and set him down gently.

“Here,” Spinel said, reaching into her gem, “I brought some water… somewhere… I think… there it is!”

“Thanks, Spinel,” Steven said, “It’s so… desert…”

“I bet! I prefer dessert myself.”

“Heh,” Steven let out a small puff, “Too hot to laugh…”

“Well,” Spinel thought, “You wanna play a game or somethin’?”

At that moment there was another low rumble; a growl of some sort behind them.

“Wha?” They both said simultaneously. As Spinel turned around, she saw a large animal silhouette painted behind an adjacent pillar.

“Wussat!?” Spinel shouted. It looked towards them, and its eyes glowed, “Pussy cat!?”

“That’s no house cat,” Steven said, squinting, “Is that a… LION!?”

“Out here?” Spinel asked, “Why would a… oh boy, Steven hide!”

Steven jumped up, and ran behind the pillar. Spinel ran her hand up her arms like she was rolling up sleeves.

“Alright kitty kitty,” Spinel said, “You better not be some sort of Gem monster…”

“Good thing this pillar is here,” she heard Steven say from behind the pillar, right before it immediately sank into the sand. Spinel grunted, and gave the sky a look, as if she were cursing the irony of the universe.

The lion stepped forward, and Spinel could now see the pink hue of its fur.

“So you are a gem!” Spinel exclaimed, “Well you better not lay a tooth on Steven!”

The lion continued walking towards them.

“Last warning…”

The Lion huffed at her, and kept walking.

“Alright!” Spinel said, spinning up her fist, “I warned ya!”

Spinel leaped towards the lion; enlarging her fist to ten times its normal size. The lion let out a huge roar, and suddenly a glowing pink circle materialized in front of her. The circle engulfed Spinel, and then vanished along with her; leaving Steven all alone. 

Steven gasped as the portal closed, and the lion started to step towards him.

“Don’t eat me!” he screamed, closing his eyes… but then? Nothing.

Steven opened one eye to see the lion lying lazily in the sand. Steven looked curiously at the lion. Slowly, he inched forward and put a hand on the lion’s muzzle. The lion seemed to ease into it.

“You,” Steven said, “Just want attention?”

As the lion said nothing, and did nothing, Steven became more excited. He started petting, climbing, and complementing the lion. He went on an entire rant about always wanting a pet, and how he always thought it would be a much smaller pet.

“But I guess fate had other plans for Steven Universe,” he said, “And his best friend Lion!”

Somewhere, in the deepest depths of a rainforest, Spinel quivered.

“What the blazes was that?” she said, putting a hand on her chest, “It felt like… a sliver of my pride was ripped straight out of my gem…”

She looked around at the field of poofed corrupted gems around her.

“I sure hope Steven’s okay,” she said, “I sure hope there’s a warp pad around here…”

A few hours later, Spinel warped back to the temple, only to find it empty.

“Are they still not back yet?” she asked, “Oh no! Did the lion really eat Steven!?”

But before she could panic, she saw Amethyst asleep inside a pillow fort. Something strange was going on. Then, she heard Steven’s unmistakable giggle outside.

“Steven!” She shouted, and rushed outside, almost breaking the screen door, “Thank goodness you didn’t get-”

There was an awkward silence as Spinel found herself face to face with Lion once more. Steven looked at her, then back to Lion, then started to speak up.

“YOU!” Spinel shouted; charging at Lion before Steven could stop her, “I’ll get you this time! I’ll-”

And suddenly she had leaped right into another portal. This time, however, Spinel wasn’t taken very far.

Steven could hear a distant scream as he watched a tiny dot that he could only assume was Spinel fall into the ocean.

“Spinel!” Steven shouted, “Can you go get her?”

Lion huffed, and closed his eyes.

“Uhh,” Steven thought, “We’ll talk to her when she gets back then…”

When Spinel finally did get back; Steven had already thrown the Desert Glass onto the beach, and was in the process of trying to stop the sinister sandcastle from reforming in front of the temple. She started to literally spring into action; ready to jump to Steven’s aid and save him from a painful spiky death, but before she could do anything Lion rushed in to save the day.

She watched as Lion caught Steven, and helped him reach the Desert Glass. She watched as the duo plucked the Desert Glass from the sand, and the structures collapsed back into the beach that they knew.

“You should have bubbled it in the first place,” Pearl said to Amethyst.

“I forgot,” said Amethyst as she bubbled the Desert Glass.

Spinel wasn’t paying attention to them. She walked up to Steven, and his Lion, and looked Lion in the eyes.

“So,” she said, “He’s not trying to eat you?”

“Nope,” Steven said, “He was trying to protect us.”

“I guess,” she thought, “he’s a friendly lion then…”

“The best…”

Spinel nervously reached out a hand, and smiled at Lion.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “About attacking you without thinking… Err- wait, what am I doing? You don’t have hands…”

Lion looked at her hand, and pressed his nose against it.

Spinel blushed, and laughed nervously.

“Oh cool,” she said, “I made a friend… with a lion…”

“Best buds!” Steven yelled.

Spinel continued to laugh nervously.


	4. Mirror Gem

“Yep! It’s all coming together!” Steven exclaimed as Pearl and Spinel carried in a random collection of school supplies. Spinel was overly excited, and wearing a form of human clothing she called a “School uniform.”

“So,” Pearl asked, “How do we begin this ‘school’?”

“Uhh,” Steven thought, “I don’t know… ah man why don’t I ever ask any follow up questions!?”

“Hmm!” Spinel thought, as she picked up a globe and spun it on its axis, “I dunno either. In most of the shows I watch they usually just sit around talking and dealing with teenage drama. It never actually shows any of the school activities. I think they’re supposed to be learning stuff?”

Spinel sat on top of the pile of supplies and began to fixate on the globe; trying to get it to spin as fast as she possibly could.

“Who will teach little Steven now!?” Steven yelled dramatically.

Pearl shot upright, stars in her eyes. “Teach you?” She asked, “Well why didn’t you tell me that’s what you wanted?”

“Oh you’ve done it now,” Spinel teased without looking away from the globe.

Pearl stood up, and found an open space in the room. She jumped with a “Hiya!” into a strange pose, and began making Bruce Lee noises as she focused on her gem.

“You know,” Spinel said, finally looking up, “She doesn’t actually have to do that… We just told her it was cool.”

From out of Pearl’s gem materialized an object; glowing and hard to recognize at first, but slowly taking shape into sort of mirror. It sailed through the air, and into Steven’s hands.

“We found this Gem-powered mirror at the galaxy warp,” Pearl told Steven, “It can display any event it’s witnessed in all of history! It will tell you anything you want to know about gem culture.”

“Wow!” Steven said, “I must be incredibly important to gem culture!”

“It’s not activated yet, Steven,” Pearl said, “That’s just your reflection. Here, let me see it.”

Pearl began asking the mirror different questions, but nothing happened. There were no magical displays, or sounds. It appeared to be but a simple mirror with a cracked gemstone inlaid on the back.

Despite this, Spinel had stopped playing with the globe almost immediately. She was staring, wide eyed, intently at the mirror, and at Pearl. She said nothing, but her face said more than enough; if only Steven or Pearl had looked up to see it. Something inside Spinel was horrified.

“Oh well,” Pearl said without looking up at Spinel, “I guess that’s the end of your school.”

Steven’s eyes lit up; “So I guess you could say school’s out for summer?”

“Yes Steven, there are many ways to say the same thing…”

“School’s out!” Steven cheered, and with that he rushed out the door, mirror in hand, and headed off to Beach City.

Spinel, still, said nothing. She watched Steven run off with the mirror, mouth agape, and though she wanted to stop him her voice completely failed her until he was well out of earshot.

“Hmm,” Pearl thought, “The asymmetry of this pile is really starting to bother me…”

“So…” Spinel said, finally finding her voice again, “You’re just not gonna tell him?”

Spinel glared down at Pearl from the top of the pile with a strange disappointed yet defeated look.

“Tell him what?” Pearl asked, pretending to be bewildered.

“You know what,” Spinel said in a monotone voice, “What that thing is. What’s inside of it.”

“He’s a child, Spinel,” Pearl argued, “He’s not ready.”

“Yeah?” Spinel asked, “That excuse won’t work forever, pal. Steven’s a smart kid, he’s been figuring things out on his own a lot better than you guys expected. ‘Sides why do you even have that? How could you hold onto it like that for… Who knows how long?”

“Well what was I supposed to do?” Pearl asked with a patronizing tone, “Free it? In it’s condition?”

“_ She, _” Spinel corrected, “Could have been bubbled. Same treatment we gave every other gem. Maybe if she weren’t too far gone Steven could-- look, whatever, okay? 

“When things go wrong,” Spinel continued, “And they _ will _ go wrong… I’ll be in my room. You have fun until then.”

Spinel jumped down, and strolled off towards the magical door. She stepped inside of her room, and if a magical door could slam it probably would have.

“Oh my,” Pearl said, slightly concerned, “I haven’t seen her act like that since Rose… eugh, It'll be fine.”

~

**“Garnet wait!” ** Pearl yelled, **“I’m sure he didn’t understand what he was doing!”**

Spinel barged into the living room, globe in hand, and saw Garnet and Amethyst rushing out the door. Pearl was about to chase after them.

“What’s wrong!?” Spinel asked.

“I-- Steven-- Gem,” Pearl stuttered.

“Things went wrong?” She asked.

Pearl nodded.

“Ugh!” Spinel bolted towards the door, paused, ran back and put the globe on top of Pearl’s symmetrical tower, and then bolted out the door.

“Fan out!” Garnet said, but Spinel had already caught a glimpse of where Steven was going from the vantage point of the house.

As the other gems scattered to search for him, Spinel coiled herself up into a spring, and sprung herself towards the beach.

She landed just on the cliff edge above Steven, and slid down quietly behind some rocks. She could hear Steven talking to the mirror.

“Are you trying to say something?” He asked.

The gem spoke in multiple voices, like recordings; “Away from home… Let-- me-- out!”

“I don’t understand!” Steven said.

“STEVEEEEEN!” Pearl’s voice echoed from not too far off.

“Come on!” Steven yelled, “I wanna help you, what can I do!”

“The Gem!” Spinel called out, rushing towards him. As the mirror noticed her approach it shut off once more, but that didn’t matter now.

“Steven,” Spinel continued, “You have to remove the Gem!”

“Remove the gem!” The mirror repeated in her voice.

Steven turned the mirror around, and grasped the gem in his hand. He pulled with all of his might, and suddenly the tide waters began to gravitate around him; like he or the mirror were giving off some sort of magnetic pull against it.

Spinel backed away, and watched as the water formed a pattern similar to the lines on the front of the mirror. Before she had time to make sense of it, the Gem broke free into Steven’s hand, and the mirror shattered with a bang.

The Gem glowed, and Steven let go. It hovered away towards the ocean, and then with no time to spare, a body began to form. An ocean blue girl, with dark blue hair and a dark blue dress fell onto the beach.

Steven ran towards her, and gently reached out to see if she was okay.

The girl turned around, revealing the shining mirror-like circles she had for eyes, and spoke;

“Thank you,” she said, trying to stand up, “You didn’t-”

She stumbled a bit, and Steven had to help her stay on her feet.

“You actually talked to me,” she continued, “You helped me!”

She stood up completely, and smiled. “It’s ‘Steven,’ right?” She asked.

Steven nodded.

“I’m Lapis,” she said, “Lapis Lazuli… Are you really Crystal Gems?”

She looked up towards Spinel, who had slowly, and timidly, began to approach. 

“Yeah!” Steven answered excitedly.

“Y-yeah,” Spinel answered less excitedly.

“But,” Lapis paused, “You set me free…”

“W-Huh?” Steven looked puzzled.

Spinel walked up and put her hand on Steven’s shoulder. 

“Steven,” she began, “W-”

**“STEVEN!” **A stern voice shot through the air. It was Garnet. She, Pearl, and Amethyst had finally caught up, and they drew their weapons as they approached.

“Wait!” Steven yelled, running towards them, but before he or Spinel could do anything, Lapis spoke up behind them.

**“You…”** she said, “You four knew I was in there, and you didn’t do anything!”

A giant hand made of water rose from the ocean behind Lapis, as she stared coldly at the gems. Spinel knew that she had been included, but didn’t back away or even draw her weapon.

“Did you even wonder who I used to be!?” Lapis shouted, throwing the watery hand down at the three main gems; knocking Pearl and Amethyst aside, and trapping Garnet beneath its watery grip.

“Spinel!” Pearl shouted, “Save him!”

Spinel did nothing.

“What are you doing!?” Steven asked Lapis.

Lapis ignored him. She looked directly at Garnet and shouted, “I am Lapis Lazuli, and you can’t keep me trapped here anymore!!”

Steven looked back to Garnet, and then gave a confused look over to Spinel.

“They’re not gonna let us leave,” Lapis told him. She lifted a single hand, and the ocean parted behind her. She looked back to Steven and Spinel, and said, “Come with me!”

Spinel gave no reply, and instead looked towards Steven.

“Where?” Steven asked, still as confused as ever.

Lapis’ eyes lowered, “Home…”

“But,” Steven stammered, “But I…”

Lapis looked disappointed. She turned her gaze over to Spinel, who simply closed her eyes and shook her head. Lapis lowered her head for a moment.

“Fine,” she said, a little broken up, as she let the water drop back down.

By this point, Garnet had managed to grapple with the watery hand. She punched the hand off of her, and then smashed it away. She was angry; ready to charge Lapis and end this for good.

Spinel’s eyes opened once more.

As Garnet rushed forward, Spinel suddenly stepped between her and Lapis. Her hands were at her sides, and her head lowered. She looked up angrily at Garnet with fierce determined eyes; red eyes.

“Spinel!” Garnet scolded through clenched teeth, “Get out of the way!”

** _“No…”_ **

“Don’t make me do this,” she threatened.

** _“Try me…”_ **

“I’m not playing these games, Spinel.”

** _“Neither am I…”_ ** Spinel’s gem began to glow, as she reached one hand up and pulled out the tip of a long pole-weapon.

“Garnet?” Steven asked, “S-Spinel?”

“Don’t trust them Steven,” Lapis said; taking advantage of this moment, “Goodbye.”

And before things could escalate any further Lapis stepped into the ocean; making one final wave that knocked Steven and all of the Gems to the ground.

Steven and the Gems gathered themselves. As the tension calmed, Pearl ran up to Steven and hugged him.

“Steven!” she said, “Are you okay!?”

“Yeah,” Steven said, “So that was another Gem?”

There was a long silence. Spinel and Garnet shared a glance at each other as they stood back up.

Spinel reluctantly answered, "Yes."


	5. Ocean Gem

The next morning; Spinel was arguing with the other Crystal Gems about grounding Steven. 

“I’m grounded?” Steven asked.

“Of Course you’re grounded!” Pearl answered.

“You disobeyed a direct order!” Garnet added.

“He did what was right,” Spinel argued.

“Don’t start with me, Spinel,” Garnet warned.

Before another word was spoken, Greg burst through the door of the beach house; slightly winded.

“Uhh,” Greg huffed, “You guys better come check this out!”

Outside was a jarring sight indeed. The ocean was gone. Down where the beach once was, a crowd of townspeople had gathered and were speaking to one another about this strange occurrence. When the Crystal Gems arrived on the scene, Mayor Dewy recognized them immediately and asked what was going on.

“Obviously the ocean is gone,” answered Garnet.

That answer only caused more discourse as the townsfolk began to panic. It became clear that they wanted a more detailed answer, mostly because Mayor Dewy demanded one through his megaphone before Garnet swiped it away.

“It was Lapis Lazuli,” Garnet elaborated.

“Lapis Lazuli?” Steven asked.

“She’s the Gem you released from the mirror,” Pearl answered; creating a projection of Lapis out of her pearl.

“Yeah,” Steven said, “But she’s a gem just like us.”

Spinel put a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “There’s a lot you don’t know about Gems, Steven.” she said.

~

After dealing with the townsfolk as best they could, the Gems returned to the temple with Greg and Connie. They began to discuss what to do next, but before they could come up with a plan, Steven was already packing his backpack.

“Where are you going, Steven?” Connie asked.

“I’m leaving to fix this,” Steven said, “I’m the one who released Lapis. This is my responsibility. I’m gonna bring the ocean back, or get really thirsty trying…”

“Wait up, kiddo,” Greg said without any deliberation, “We’ll take my van.”

“I wanna help too,” said Connie, “Besides I feel weird being in your house without you.”

“Count me in,” said Spinel.

Lion roared in agreement.

Pearl cleared her throat, and the five of them looked over to Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst.

“Clearly,” Pearl said, “We’re coming too.”

“You’re ungrounded by the way,” added Garnet.

“Wohoo!” Screamed Amethyst, “Roadtrip!”

~

The journey across the ocean was a long one, and the van was cramped. Spinel was able to contort herself in whatever way she desired, but that didn’t necessarily make it any more comfortable.

At first, Spinel tried to fit on the back of Lion, but with Steven and Connie that didn’t work very well. Eventually Garnet retreated from the van to escape Greg’s taste in music. Spinel took her place in the front seat next to Greg.

Night fell, and the drive continued. Greg switched places with Pearl and fell asleep next to Amethyst in the back of the van. Garnet sat on top of the van, and Connie fell asleep against Steven’s back. Steven continued to ride Lion, who seemed no more tired than when the journey began.

They drove deeper into what was once the ocean; far enough below sea level that they were passing geysers and caves, and strange aquatic structures. Every once in a while they would ascend again, up mountainous sand dunes which were once the ocean floor.

The ascents were slow, and cautious, and in those ascents Steven took the opportunity to converse with the other Gems.

“I can’t believe Lapis would do this,” he said at one point, “Gems shouldn’t fight each other.”

Pearl and Spinel glanced at each other; Pearl a timid glance, and Spinel a reassuring one. It was the type of look that parents might give each other when it was time to give a child one of ‘the talks,’ and it seemed that Pearl was finally ready to accept it.

“We’re always fighting Gems, actually,” Pearl said.

“What?” Steven gasped.

“Oh…” Pearl hesitated, “How do I put this?”

“Not all Gems are good, Steven,” Spinel said.

“All those monsters we fight used to be just like us!” Amethyst interjected excitedly, “Right Spinel?”

“Yeah,” Spinel sighed, simultaneously petting Amethyst on the head and nudging her to calm down.

“But,” Pearl continued, “They’ve become corrupted- broken- we have to take care of them, subdue them, contain them… it’s all we can do for them… for now…”

“It’s what we should have done for Lapis,” Spinel added, “Let her rest in a bubble, not keep her trapped in that mirror for all these years.”

Pearl looked at Spinel, and then gave a deep sigh.

“You’re right,” she said, “It was wrong of me to just leave her like that…”

“But,” Steven thought, “Lapis doesn’t seem corrupted…”

“We’re here,” Garnet said, cutting the conversation short.

‘Here’ was a giant pillar of water, ascending into the clouds. It was about as wide as a house, and as the heroes stepped out of the van they could see that inside were all of the ocean critters. They stepped closer, and stood only meters away from the pillar.

“I don’t understand,” Pearl said, “What does she want with the ocean?”

“Maybe she’s tryin to reach something reaaaaaaaly high,” Spinel said.

**“You shouldn’t be here!” ** Lapis’ voice rang out.

“She’s sensed us!” exclaimed Garnet.

Steven stepped up closer to the pillar.

“Lapis Lazuli!” he said, “It’s me, Steven!”

Suddenly, a giant face formed out of the water. It looked like Lapis, and its lips moved along to her voice.

“Go away!” she said, “Before I make you!”

“But we’re beach summer fun buddies!” Steven said.

“No!” Spinel yelled, doing an impression of Steven the way she had done in the mirror, “You’re one of  _ them!  _ One of the  **Crystal** Gems!”

Garnet and Pearl started to step forward angrily, but Garnet and Spinel held them back.

“What do you mean?” Steven asked, “We’re all gems right? Just let us help you.”

“You don’t understand! Just leave me alone!”

The face vanished back into the pillar of water. Steven ran up and put his hands on the pillar.

“We’re not leaving!” he said, “Not until you give us back our ocean!”

A watery hand reached out and grabbed Steven by the collar. Steven was lifted into the air, and watched in shock as a familiar shape stepped out of the watery pillar. It was him; he was staring at a copy of himself made entirely out of water.

“I said  **leave!”** Lapis yelled through this Steven clone; throwing Steven back towards the other gems.

Spinel caught Steven, and looked angrily at the water Steven. 

From out of the pillar stepped four more water clones, one of each of the crystal gems; standing in a mirrored order.

The other three gems drew their weapons, as Spinel set Steven down and pulled at her arms like she was rolling up sleeves. A part of her mass rolled up, and then dropped down into her fists, enlarging them as she let go of her arms.

The mirror gems, in turn, materialized identical weapons.

“Stick together,” Garnet said, “Don’t let them seperate- OOF!”

As she was saying this, the Water Garnet lunged forward and punched her away. Garnet went flying back and out of the main fight. Water Garnet gave chase.

Meanwhile, Water Amethyst and Water Pearl pushed Amethyst and Pearl away to either side. Then there was only Spinel, and her and Steven’s respective water clones.

“Oh you wanna do it that way?” Spinel smiled, “Then come on!!”

Spinel stretched herself far away, and the water clone gave chase. The fight between Spinel and her water clone was more of a chase than a fight. They stretched and sprang all over the rocky plane. Every once in a while, Spinel would find an opening and make an attack before running a little bit more.

At one point, Spinel stretched herself around a rock, and whipped back like a rubber band; delivering a powerful punch with her giant fist. The water clone shattered into hundreds of tiny droplets, which levitated in the air. Spinel landed on one knee and smiled at her work.

Just then, the water droplets sprang back into a single mass. Without even reforming into Spinel’s shape; they snapped towards her like a rubber cannonball. Spinel barely managed to jump out of the way as the water smashed into the ground.

It followed through with more ground smashing attacks; bouncing towards Spinel like a slinky, as Spinel herself backflipped away in a similar slinky fashion. Eventually, it managed to trick her by stretching along the ground, and delivering a successful uppercut where she was about to land.

Spinel caught herself mid-air and landed on both feet. She watched as the Water Spinel reformed into her shape, and stared her down; hands at its side.

Frustrated; Spinel growled, and reached for her gem; beginning to pull out her gem weapon. As her gem glowed, however, she paused. She glanced back over to Steven, shook her head, and let go; causing the glowing light to dissipate without taking shape. There was no use in bringing  _ that _ out if her mirror self would probably use it too.

Instead, Spinel lunged forward with another mighty punch; but Water Spinel grabbed her hand and threw her over itself. Spinel went flying through the air, and smashed into a rock.

It was around this time that Steven screamed;  **“I don’t wanna fight!”**

There was a loud gong-like sound as water smashed against Steven’s shield. The Water clones seemed to vibrate along with the sound, and immediately splashed to the ground. Spinel’s in particular lost form mid-charge and ended up soaking her with a splash.

Everyone looked over as Steven walked back up to the pillar.

“Lapis,” he said, “I’m coming up to see you… so please don’t drown me…”

“Steven!” Connie yelled.

“Wait!” Yelled Spinel.

But Steven was already jumping into the pillar. Once he was fully inside of the pillar of water, a watery hand formed under him and lifted him away; out of sight of the other gems.

Spinel had to sit and wait as Steven talked things out with Lapis; unsure of what was going on up there. Steven then, of course, learned that Lapis’ gem was cracked and offered to heal it. He healed her and allowed her to fly off into space.

Then, down below, the group watched as the pillar of water began to crumble.

“We have to get out of here,” yelled Garnet.

“What about Steven!?” Shouted Greg.

Connie, Lion, and Spinel all looked at each other. Connie and Spinel both jumped onto Lion’s back, and held on as he got a running start.

“Just get us close!” Spinel said, “And I can catch him!”

Lion leaped through one of his portals, and suddenly they were miles above the Earth. Spinel darted her eyes around quickly, looking for any sign of Steven. Then, they began to fall, and Lion had to throw them through another portal.

They went through 3 different portals before Connie managed to point Steven out in the distance. Spinel wound herself up and sprang out to catch Steven in both arms. She then reached out with one of her arms, and pulled them back towards Lion.

The pillar collapsed. The water redispursed, and the ocean returned to beach city. A few moments later; a pink bubble breached the surface with Greg’s van and all of the heroes inside of it.

There was much cheering and celebrating. Eventually the rest of the townsfolk ran up to see Steven, and he was drawn away into the crowd along with Connie and Greg. Meanwhile, Garnet and Pearl stood alone staring at the sky.

“So,” Garnet said, “Lapis made it off planet.”

“What does this mean for us?” Pearl asked.

“We wait and see,” Said Garnet.

“I say good for her,” remarked Spinel, who was sitting atop the van only a few feet away.

“Spinel,” Garnet snapped, “If word gets out that we’re still-”

“We can’t hide forever, Garnet,” Spinel interrupted, “What about Lapis? She deserved this…”

Spinel looked off into space; as though if she looked hard enough she would eventually catch a glimpse of Lapis. She smiled.


	6. Warp Tour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best work, but at least it's done.

Steven swore he saw something in the stream. He was so convinced that when Pearl, Garnet, and Spinel came to wake him in the morning, they found him asleep against the door with a water gun.

Pearl insisted that it was impossible, and so did Garnet. Spinel, however, wanted to hear him out.

“I’m confident that Pearl is right,” said Garnet, “But if it will make you feel better, we can go and check.”

And so they did. They checked every warp location possible, but turned up nothing. Pearl again insisted that, “Nothing on earth can use the warps except for us.”

To which Steven finally asked; “But what if it came from space?”

“I,” Pearl hesitated, “don’t appreciate your tone…” 

They warped to the galaxy warp, where Pearl stepped forward to present her argument.

“These are the warps that connected us to other planets,” she said, “If someone tried to come here from space, it would be through here.”

“But  _ wait _ ,” she patronized, “This warp pad is broken.”

“Pearl…” Spinel groaned softly.

“Marked inactive by the very sticker you placed here yourself!”

“Pearl!” Spinel said, “Stop bein a pill will ya? We get it. There’s no need to make him feel stupid!”

“I,” Pearl began, “Maybe you’re right… I’m sorry Steven… but it’s impossible.”

Garnet reached out and touched Steven on the shoulder, “We’re safe…”

“I… I guess…” Steven thought.

“Finally!” Amethyst said, “That took all day.”

“It was important to make Steven feel better,” Garnet said.

“Yes, Steven feels much better now…”

Spinel started to speak up again, but Steven beat her to it.

“I’m a little tired,” he said, “Of you guys telling  _ me  _ how  _ I  _ feel! I know I saw something in the stream.”

“And I know you didn’t!” Pearl argued.

“How could you know if you didn’t look?” Spinel piped up.

“We  _ are  _ looking,” Pearl said.

“Why can’t anyone just listen to Steven!”

“Everyone!” Garnet yelled, “... Let it go…”

They warped back to the house in silence. Once the other gems had left, Spinel approached Steven alone.

“Look,” she said, “I know you’re not over this… You need rest, I don’t. Get some sleep… I’ll be right here.”

“Thanks Spinel,” he said, climbing up to his bed.

Spinel sat up late into the night watching the warp pad, and fidgeting with Steven’s Gameboy, but as the night crept on; it felt like nothing was going to happen. She let out a huge sigh, and laid down on the floor.

Around this time, Amethyst stepped out from her room.

“Uhh, hey Spinel,” She said, “Watchya doin?”

“Contemplating my worth as a Pokemon master,” she answered.

“Err?”

“This game! I can’t beat the elite four!”

“Okay then?”

“What are you guys doing down there?” Steven yawned.

“Hey Steven! You’re awake!” Amethyst exclaimed, “Wanna see something cool?”

“Uhh,” Steven thought, “Sure?”

Steven jumped out of bed and followed Amethyst out of the house. Spinel watched them leave, and then looked back down at the gameboy. She sighed, and put the gameboy back into her gem.

“I guess there’s really nothing to worry about,” She said.

Spinel stood up, and started to walk over to her room, when suddenly something came crashing through the room and plowed into her face. Spinel fell to the ground, and a strange green orb rolled off of her face.

“What the-” She groaned, “What are you!?”

She looked up at the new hole in the ceiling; “You dropped in from space didn’t ya!?”

The strange orb sprouted legs, and turned around and darted suddenly towards the warp pad.

“Oh no ya don’t!” She said; leaping out and grabbing onto the orb. She paused; looking down at the warp pad, which she was only half-way on, and back to the orb that she was holding onto.

“Wait,” she said, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good id-”

But before she could finish; they were whisked away into the warp stream.

Within the stream, Spinel found herself surrounded by even more orbs.

“How many of you are there?” She asked, as they tried to push her out of the stream. Spinel dipped her head out to see tens of other streams all activated around her; “Oh… that many…”

She barely managed to hold on for the ride, and eventually fell flat on her face with a pile of the strange orbs. She jumped up, and started kicking a few of them away; eventually placing her foot on one to crush it. Then, she paused as she realized where she was; the galaxy warp.

She looked ahead to see nearly a hundred orbs shooting a strange goo onto the main galaxy warp. In seconds, the goo seeped into the cracks of the warp, and started to fuse into it; as if it were being repaired. In fact, that is exactly what was happening.

The warp activated, and Spinel quickly let her foot off of the orb, and slinked into a hiding spot. From the bright beam of light, a strange green gem appeared.

“Log date, 312,” she said, “this is Peridot performing Earth Hub maintenance check…”

Spinel hid there, alone, until Peridot noticed the sticker Steven had left; panicked, and warped away. With the orbs, referred to as Robonoids, inactive; Spinel slowly stepped out. She looked around timidly, and thought about what to do next.

She thought about telling the other gems; about how happy she was to tell them Steven was right. Then, she thought about their reaction, their panic, their fear… and about Lapis. Steven let Lapis go.  _ She _ let Lapis go.

She took the robonoids, and threw them into the ocean. Then, she smashed the Galaxy Warp, and warped home. No one noticed that she was gone. No one noticed when she came back. No one needed to know… 


	7. Short Break Update: NOT A HIATUS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be deleted later

Hey guys,

This will be deleted when chapter 7 comes out. Just wanted to post an update cus I like to be professional in everything that I write. There won't be any chapters for a few weeks.

This wasn't exactly my intent. I wanted to stay on top of it, but a lot of you probably know how depression is. Real life stuff, and stress from school got in the way, and I had to deal with that. I might disclose more on my blog, idk. Unfortunately I have plans through next week, and I won't be able to write. Just for the sake of being realistic, don't expect any new chapters until December. That said, feel free to hold me to that! I'm enjoying this series, and to be honest with all of you I might have it mapped out through season 6...

... Yes... I actually watched every single episode of Steven Universe and took notes on how Spinel would affect the plot. Every- single- episode... I'll probably share some of them at the end of each "season." Anyway, I'm seeing this through to the end, so don't worry!! We're just gonna have to wait a couple weeks for me to get back.

Love you all,

Tangent


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